Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The present invention comprises a timber
preservative process.
Compounds of boron have been used as preservatives
for timber for many years. Typically such compounds of
boron are applied to timber to be treated by dipping of the
timber in a bath or the like comprising an aqueous solution
of the boron compound. After dipping the timber must remain
under non-drying conditions for sufficient time for the
~oron to diffuse into the timber, which can be of the order
of weeks or some months, and thus the preservative process
is relatively time consuming. In commercial terms it is
desirable to minimise standing time for timber stocks.
Some compounds of boron are either low boiling
point liquids or gases. When placed in contact ~ith timber
or wood-based products, selected compounds undergo chemical
reaction with the wood or residual wood moisture whereby
boron as compounds o~ boron is deposited in the timber. For
example, on contact with wood trimethyl borate reacts, it is
believed with wood moisture, to deposit boron in the wood
material as boric acid. The preservative treatment of
timber with a boron compound in the vapour phase has
previously been proposed but due to practical dif~iculties
is believed not to have been employed commercially.
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The present invention provides an improved or at
least alternative process for the vapour or gas phase boron
preservation treatment of timber.
In broad terms the invention may be said to
comprise a process for the preservative or remedial
treatment of timber or wood based products with a boron
based preservative, comprising the steps of drying the
timber to a reduced moisture content, exposing the timber to
a vapour or gas of a boron compound whereby boron or a
compound of boron becomes deposited within the wood
material, and subjecting the timber to conditioning to
attain a working moisture content therefor.
In the process of the invention which comprises
drying prior to preservative treatment and subsequent
conditioning, boron preservation treatment of timber may be
carried out more rapidly than with conventional boron
dipping processes~ Immediately or in a relatively short
time after processing the timber is in a suitable condition
for use or sale, and standing of the timber for long periods
after treatment as in conventional boron preservative
treatment processes is not required. The process of the
invention is particularly suitable for the preservative
treatment of sawn timber intended for dry framing or the
like, since the final conditioning step of the preservative
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process may be carried out such that the timber after
treatment has the appropriate moisture content and/or drying
stresses in the timber are relieved.
Preferably all the treatment steps of the
preservative process of the invention are carried out within
a common treatment plant such as a common suitable closed
treatment vessel or the like, but it is possible for drying
and conditioning to be carried out in an existing drying and
conditioning plant with vapour/gas treatment being carried
out in a separate preservation vessel, for example, or
further for all of the drying, vapour/gas treatmPnt, and
conditioning to be carried out separately in individual
plant, although treatment in a common vessel or plant is
most preferred since it minimises handling of the timber in
transfer from one plant to another and enables more rapid
treatment.
Preferably the vapour/gas treatment is carried out
in the treatment vessel under conditions of reduced pressure
or relative vacuum, and elevated temperature, but treatment
could be carried GUt under elevated pressure conditions or
alternating pressure and/or vacuum and/or exposure to
atmospheric pressure, in combination with heating and/or
cooling, or the like.
60~
Preferably the drying before vapour/gas treatment
comprises high temperature drying, but other drying
techniques may be employed such as conventional drying up to
temperatures of 100C, vapour recompression drying, vacuum
drying, or radio-frequency drying, for example, or air
drying.
Preferably in the drying the moisture content of
the timber is reduced to below of the order of 6% by weight
and preferably to a level of of the order of 2% of the oven
dry weight of the wood. Reduction of the timber moisture
content to these levels enables more efficient deposit of
the boron, or compounds in which the boron is present,
during the vapour/gas treatment in terms of the volume of
consumption of the vaporised boron compound, with a better
distribution of the boron through the cross-sectional area
of the wood. The vapour/gas treatment can be carried out at
highex wood moisture contents but at higher moisture levels
consumption of the vaporised boron compound is increased and
deposit of boron in or towards the core of the wood material
is not optimised.
Suitably the conditioning after vapour/gas
treatment comprises steam conditioning. Conditioning may be
carried out at or at about atmospheric pressure, and
typically conclitioning may be carried out to attain a
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working moisture content in the range 8 to 12% by weight of
the oven dry wood and optimumly of the order of 10% for the
wood, or to such other level as may be required for any
particular end use of the timber.
Boron compounds which may be employed in the
vapour/gas treatment comprise alny suitable compound of boron
that will deposit boron as a compound Gr compounds of boron
in the wood material including trimethyl borate,
methyldiborane, trimethylborane, dimethyldiborane,
trimethyldiborane, borine carbonyl, for example, or any
other suitable boron compound including azeotropes or
mixtures of these compounds with other compounds such as
methanol or other suitable solvents, for example. Compounds
may he selected having regard to their flammability/
stability, reactivity with wood or wood moisture, and
toxicity. A preferred compound is trimethyl borate or a
combination of trimethyl borate and methanol at or at about
the azeotropic composition thereof.
In accordance with the process of the invention
the timber is firstly dried to reduce the moisture content
thereof to a predetermined level, preferably less than 6%
and preferably of the order of 2% by weight. High
temperature drying, to reduce the moisture content of the
wood to appro~imately 2% is preferred. Preferably of the
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order of 90% of the timber is reduced to below 6~ moisture
content prior to vapour/gas treatment, and a typical high
temperature drying schedule involves a dry bulb temperature
of 120C and a wet bulb temperature of 70C and a drying
time of approximately 24 hours, for say 100 x 50 mm Radiata
Pine filleted every layer. Other variations of temperatures
and time will achieve a similar wood moisture content, or
other desired moisture contents. Any suitable drying
schedule to achieve a desired wood moisture content prior to
vapour/gas treatment for any particular wood species or type
may be employed.
Drying is preferably carried out in a common
vapour/gas treatment vessel. An existing closed liquid
preservative treatment vessel may be adapted for carrying
out the process of the invention by incorporating a heating
system to effect the drying operation, fans to circulate the
drying medium, pumps for evacuation for vapour treatment,
and conditioning facilities or the like, and suitable
control systems.
After drying the timber is subjected to a vapour
or gas of the selected boron compound and the vapour/gas
treatment is carried out in a suitable closed vessel which
as stated is pref~rably the common drying and conditioning
vessel. ~ further advantage of a common vessel is that
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apart from minimising handling of the timber and the like,
the boron vapour/gas treatment may take place immediately
the timber is dry enough and the timber will be hot after
drying which minimises condensation of the vapour onto the
outside surfaces of the wood and assists vapour or gas
movement into the wood.
Treatment is carried out at a sufficient
temperature to sustain the boron compound vapour or gas.
Preferably both the timber and the treatment vessel are
heated to a temperature such that condensation of the vapour
onto the wood and walls of the vessel is minimised. Heating
of the timber to high temperatures for such periods as will
result in degradation of the timber should however be
avoided. Temperatures of greater than 80C and typically in
the range 80 to 120C are preferred.
As referred to, preferably vapour or gas treatment
is carried out in an evacuated treatment vessel. The vessel
may be substantially fully or partially evacuated. The
vessel may be evacuated to within the range 50 kPa
(absolute) to approaching full vacuum, for example, and
preferably to substantially ~5 kPa (absolute).
After initial exposure of the timber the
vaporised/gas boron compound the timber may be left in
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contact with the vapour/gas for of the order of minutes to
hours before evacuation of the remaining vapour and any by
products from the treatment vessel. If trimethyl borate is
heated to 200C prior to application, for example, and the
timber to be treated to 80C and the treatment vessel then
evacuated, treatment can be completed within of the order of
thirty minutes.
The boron compound vapour may be created by
boiling of the liquid boron compound in a separate vessel
and venting of the vapour into the treatment vessel, or
preferably the boron compound vapour is created by heating
the treatment vessel to a sufficient temperature and/or
evacuating the treatment vessel to a sufficient reduced
pressure and injecting the liquid boron compound into the
treatment vessel, the temperature and pressure being
sufficient to cause the liquid boron compound to vaporise on
entry to the treatment vessel. This has the advantage that
the rate of exposure of the timber to the boron compound and
the volume of the boron compound are readily controlled.
Where the vapour is created separately and vented into the
treatment vessel preferably the vapour~gas is heated to a
higher temperature than the wood where at least partial
evacuation of the treatment vessel is employed, because when
the vapour or gas is released into the evacuated treatment
vessel there a temperature reduction occurs.
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After drying and vapour/gas treatment the timber
is conditioned and steam conditioning is preferably
employed. Conditioning for a period of about 2 hours per
25 mm of thickness of individual wood pieces is preferred.
Typically conditioning may be carried out to attain a
working moisture content in the range 8 to 12% and most
typically of the order of 10% by weight of the oven dry
weight of the wood, or to such other level as may be
required for any particular end use of the timber.
Examples of the process of the invention are given
below:
EXAMPLE 1
A stack of freshly-sawn timber was filleted every
layer and placed in a closed treatment vessel which was then
heated to 120C dry-bulb and 70C wet bulb temperature. The
differential between the wet and dry bulb temperatures was
maintained by venting to atmosphere. Once the average wood
moisture content was 4%, the cylinder was sealed and
evacuated to 15 kPa ~absolute). While the vessel was being
evacuated, trimethyl borate liquid was measured into a
boiler. The volume of liquid decanted was proportional to
the volume of timber being dried and equated to
approximately 3.2 kg boric acid equivalent per m3 of wood.
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The liquid was heated to 200 C. After 10 minutes evacuation
at 15 kPa (absolute~, the valve separating the super heated
trimethyl borate from the treat:ment vessel was opened to
effect treatment. Within 2-3 minutes the treatment vessel
vacuum gauge returned from approximately 110 kPa (absolute)
to approximately 30 kPa (absolute). The treatment vessel
was then evacuated to 15 kPa (absolute) for 5 minutes.
Steam was then applied for two hours to increase the
moisture content of the wood to 10-12%. The treated wood
was subsequently removed from the treatment vessel.
EXAMPLE 2
Ten pieces of wood (nominally 100 mm x 50 mm x 600
mm) were high temperature dried at wet bulb 70C and dry
bulb 140C temperatures for about 24 hours. Then 200 mm
samples were cut from each for moisture determinations. The
moisture content MC (on oven dry basis) averaged 4.6%. The
wood was transferred to a preheated pressure vessel of about
50 litres volume. The wood was filletted every layer in a
similar fashion to the stacking in the drying operation.
The vessel was sealed and evacuated to 15 kPa (absolute) and
held at this level for a further 10 minutes. Then 380 ml of
trimethyl borate - methanol azeotrope in liquid form was
injected into the vessel in a time of 37 seconds. The
TMB~methanol mixture was sprayed onto the inside of the
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pressure vessel shell which was at a temperature of about
120C. This caused the TMB/methanol to vapourise and
effected the treatment of ~he wood. During the injection
the pressure in the vessel incrleased to near atmospheric but
then slowly decreased to settle at about 90 kPa (absolute).
The system remained under these conditions for a further 5
minutes. After 10 minutes the pressure vessel was directly
vented to atmosphere; the vesse:L opened and the dried and
treated wood was removed. Steam was then admitted into the
vessel at atmospheric pressure for four hours to increase
the moisture content of the wood to 10 - 12%.
The treated wood was examined and analysed. The
retention of preservative in the cross sectional area of the
wood ranged from O.4% w/w Boric acid equivalent (BAE) to
0.8% and averaged 0.6% w/w/ BAE. The central one - ninth of
the cross sectional area ranged from 0.1 to 0.5% w/w BAE
with an average of 0.3% w/w BAE.
EXAMPLE 3
Wood was treated as in Example 2 except that
during boron vapour treatment the treatment vessel was
evacuated to 10 kPa (absolute) prior to injection of the
boron liquid, and 300 ml of trimethyl borate was injected in
in a time of about 30 seconds. The pressure in the vessel
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increased to 60 kPa (absolute) and then dropped back to 55
kPa (absolute) during li~lid injection~
The treated wood was examined and analysed. The
retention of preservative in the cross sectional area o~ the
wood ranged from 0.5% w/w ~oric acid equivalent (BAE) to
0.7% and averaged 0.6% w/w BAE. The central one - ninth of
the cross sectional area ranged from 0.1 to 0.6% w/w BAE
with an average of 0.4% w/w BAE.
EXAMPLE 4
Thirty pieces of freshly cut wood (Radiata Pine):
20 pieces of sapwood and 10 pieces of heartwood, of
nominally 100 mm x 50 mm x 2.4 m were high tempPrature dried
at 120C dry bulb and 70C wet bulb for about 24 hours.
~Immediately following the drying operation 400 mm samples
were cut from each for moisture content determination. The
moisture content of the heartwood ranged from 2.00% (OD
basis) to 3.37% with an average of 2.44%. The moisture
content of the sapwood ranged from 2.86% to 8.59% with an
average of 4.79%. The wood was then placed into a hot
(about 110Cj pressure vessel of nominal volume 1 cu.m. The
wood was fully filletted and stacked into this vessel in an
identical manner to that in which it was dried. The vessel
was sealed and evacuated to a pressure of about 38 kPa
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(absolute). Then 3.5 litres of the preservative was
injected into the vessel split between three injectors
equally spaced along the inside top of the pressure vessel.
Injection time was 3 minutes. The preservative was
trimethyl borate - methanol near the azeotropic composition,
at a boric acid equivalent composition of 36.6% w/v.
Following injection the pressure increased to 77 kPa
(absolute) and then slowly reduced to about 69 kPa
(absolute). Steam conditioning was then initiated. Steam
was slowly admitted into the vessel. When atmospheric
pressure was reached the vessel was directly vented to
atmosphere so that th internal pressure was held within 3
kPa of atmospheric pressure. This was continu~d for four
hours to increase the moisture content of the wood to 10 -
12%. Following completion of the steam conditioning stage
the steam was shut off and the vessel opened and the dried,
treated wood removed.
The treated wood was examined and analysed. The
retention of preservative in the cross sectional area of the
heartwood ranged from 0.109% w/w Boric acid equivalent (BAE)
to 0.404% with a standard deviation of 0.09, and averaged
0.314% w/w BA~. The central one ninth of the cross
sectional area of the heartwood ran~ed from 0.002 to 0.~42%
w/w BAE with a standard deviation of 0.13 and with an
average of 0.;28% w/w BAE. The retention of preservative in
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the cross-sectional area of the sap wood ranged from 0.401
W/w Boric acid equivalent (BAE) to 0.672% with a standard
deviation of 0.08 and averaged 0.52% w/w BAE. The central
one - ninth of the cross sectional area ranged ~rom 0.011 to
0.354% w/w BAE with a standard deviation o~ 0.10 and an
average of 0.22 w/w BAE.
EXAMPLE 5
Thirty pieces of freshly cut wood (Radiata Pine):
20 pieces of sapwood and 10 pieces of heartwood, of
nominally 100 mm x 50 mm x 2.5 m were high temperature
dried at 120C dry bulb and 70C wet bulb for about 24
hours. Immediately following the drying operation 400 mm
samples were cut from each for moisture content
determination. The moisture content of the heartwood ranged
from 2.10% (OD basis) to 4.38% with an average of 2.82%.
ThP moisture content of the sapwood ranged from 5.44% to
17.66% with an average of 10.49%. The wood was then placed
into a hot (about 110C) pressure vessel of nominal volume
1 cu.m. The wood was fully filletted and stacked into this
vessel in an identical manner to that in which it was dried.
The vessel was sealed and evacuated to a pressure of about
21 kPa (absolute). Then 2.5 litres of the preservative was
injected into the vessel split between three injectors
equally spaced along the inside top of the pressure vessel.
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Injection time was 1 minute 15 seconds. The preservative
was trimethyl borate and methanol near the azeotropic
composition, at a boric acid equivalent compositlon of 36.6%
w/v. Following injection of the preservative the pressure
increased to 54 kPa (absolute) and then slowly reduced to
about 40 kPa (absolute). Fifteen minutes after the
preservative was injec:ted into the vessel a vacuum was again
drawn on the vessel. After twenty minutes the pressure
vessel had reached a pressure of 25 kPa (absolute). Steam
conditioning was now initiated. Steam was slowly admitted
into the vessel. When atmospheric pressure was reachad the
vessel was directly vented to atmosphere so that the
internal pressure was held within 5 kPa of atmospheric
pressure. This was continued for four hours to increase the
moisture content of the wood to 10 1~% (oven dry basis).
Following completion of the steam conditioning stage the
steam was shut off and the vessel opened and the dried,
treated wood removed.
The foregoing describes the invention including
preferred and particularly pre~erred forms thereof.
Alterations and variations as will be obvious to those
skilled in the art are intended to be incorporated in the
scope hereof, as defined in the following claims.
